Tomorrow Starts Today
by msrylvscmpny
Summary: Sequel to my first story, Love Will Come Through. With Karen now gone, Lucas and Peyton are faced with all the trials and tribulations of raising a young teenager, one Lily Rose Scott. Prologue included for new readers. LP.
1. Prologue

**So the sequel at last begins... **

**If you haven't read the first story, Love Will Come Through, you can go back and read it if you like. I think the prologue is pretty straight forward though, so you don't have to.**

**Hope you all enjoy. Remember, reviews are love hehe. :) **

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**  
Prologue**

"_Peyton…"_

"_Shh." She placed her finger on her mouth. Slowly getting up, she carried Lily to her bed._

"_What, what are you doing here?" Lucas whispered still in shock._

"_Well with Karen gone, someone's gonna have to help you around here right?" Peyton affirmed._

"_What about L.A. and Punk & Disorderly?" He asked._

"_I was thinking maybe it was about time I made base down here in Tree Hill." She informed him. "Plus, I think we've been alone long enough." She smiled playing with his shirt collar._

_Lucas' eyes lit up and his heart softened with the news. The moonlight reflecting perfectly off her face, he pushed a few of her stranded curls away revealing the beauty before him. He placed his hand on her cheek, "I told you I'll be here when you get back." He returned the smile._

_The two's lips interlocked, neither giving a hint of stopping anytime soon… as far as they knew, tomorrow officially started today._

…

_When their lips finally did part, Peyton eventually did end up moving back to Tree Hill with Lucas and Lily; both ensuring that it would be different this go-a-round… this time it would be perfect._

_------------------------------_

Peyton pulled her comet into the driveway, the backseat and trunk were nearly packed to the brim with boxes upon boxes.

"That the last of 'em?" Lucas asked sounding exhausted.

"A couple more I think."

"A couple…?" Lucas said seeing the mountain of boxes stacked in front of him.

"Yes, a couple." Peyton laughed giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"What's all this stuff anyway?" He started to say opening one of them. "Figures…" He got his answer noticing the number of vinyl records inside. He picked up a few of the boxes and disappeared back into the house.

Peyton grabbed her purse from out of the car, closing the door behind her. As she did, the little girl came into view.

"Hey you." Peyton knelt down to greet the young girl.

"I'm glad you're going to stay with us Peyton." Lily said innocently, one of her hands clinging onto the gold locket hung around her neck.

"Me too sweetie." Peyton replied giving her a hug. "Come on, let's help Lucas before he drops something else of mine." She joked taking Lily's hand, leading her into the house.


	2. Chapter 1

**New chapter. **

**Little bit of a time jump, for those of you who might get confused. ;)**

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**One**

_Ten years later…_

It was just past midnight, Peyton stirred in bed. Before she closed her eyes once again, she could hear a feint sound coming from downstairs it seemed. She turned over and saw that the other side of the bed was vacant. She got up and grabbed her robe, slinging it over her shoulders. Slowly making her way down the stairs, she noticed that the light in the family room was still on. Turning the corner, all Peyton could do was smile and let out a sigh.

"You still up?" Peyton echoed wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Did I wake you honey, sorry." Lucas replied.

"It's late, come to bed." Peyton took a seat next to him.

"I know. I just want everything to be perfect for tomorrow." Lucas answered, finishing the wrapping of a present of some sorts.

The present was for Lily's 15th birthday. The two couldn't believe where the time had gone, it seemed just like yesterday when she was their little baby girl. As much as they didn't want to admit it, she was in fact becoming a young lady. The transition was a bit easier for Peyton, her being a woman and all, but for Lucas it was a tougher pill to swallow. He still hung onto the vision that Lily was his cute and innocent baby sister.

"So what you get her this time…?" Peyton looked on curiously. "Don't tell me it's another easy-bake oven." Peyton tried to hold back the laughter. "Oh! Better yet. It's one of those polka dot sweaters again. Isn't it?"

"Haha, nope." Lucas snickered mockingly.

"So what is it?" Peyton inched closer to him, attempting to lure the answered out of him.

"I know once I tell you you're gonna just go and blab it to Lily."

"No I won't." Peyton fibbed, trying to convince him.

Lucas simply gave her a glare, "Not this time." He shook his head.

"Fine." Peyton finally gave into defeat. "I'm going back to sleep then. Don't take too long baby, okay." She got up and gave him a kiss.

Lucas nodded and watched as she left the room. He turned his attention back down to the table where the neatly wrapped gift still lied. He reached for a pen and scribbled something down onto a card. Before taping it onto the box, he read the message to himself...

_To: Lily  
Love, Lucas_

He couldn't wait to see the smile on her face when she opened it. After 15 years, he thought he finally got her the perfect gift.

------------------------------

Morning at last arrived; Lily was awakened by the sunlight peeking through her blinds. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and stretched out. The smell of bacon tickled the tip of her nose and she ran downstairs eagerly. Hopping down the stairs, she finally got to the entrance of the kitchen.

Much to her surprise, well not that much considering this would happen pretty much every year the exact same way, she found Lucas and Peyton hard at work cooking up their annual birthday breakfast for her. This in itself was always a shock to her, her birthday was _literally_ the only day either of them would ever dare to pick up a pot or pan.

They both turned around, their faces instantly lighting up seeing her standing in the doorway. "Hi sweetie." Peyton gleamed, taking Lily in for a hug. "Mmm, happy birthday baby." She added, squeezing her tighter.

"Mom… can't breathe." Lily professed.

Peyton released her grip, "Sorry sweetie, but you know I love these days."

"It's okay. So what is it, the usual?" Lily asked, her stomach grumbling.

"Yup." Lucas replied turning around, chef's hat, apron, and all. "Pancakes, bacon, and eggs." He said dropping them on her plate. "And of course, last but not least…" He continued reaching into the refrigerator. "…15 squirts of whipped cream. It _is_ #15 right?"

"Dad." Lily laughed. "What are you gonna do when I'm 50?"

"I'm sure there are 50 squirts of cream in here, minimum." He answered smirking. "Just eat up birthday girl."

Lily giggled picking at her plate. The food tasted horrible, Lucas and Peyton did cook it themselves after all, but just having them both there made it all worth while.

"So after this munchkin, what do you wanna do? Your call." Lucas asked. "I thought we could go down to that ice cream parlor you like."

"Actually, Stacey and I already made plans. If that's okay with you guys." Lily revealed.

"_Oh._" Lucas responded nonchalantly. "Go ahead. It's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, have fun." Lucas told her.

"You're the best daddy." Lily jumped up and pecked him on the cheek. "I'll be back soon, k." She said before running out of the house.

…

Peyton frowned as she watched Lucas seating there, just playing with the food on his plate. "You okay baby? You wanna talk about it?"

"Talk about what. How she doesn't even want to spend time with me anymore." He groaned.

"Aww Luke, come here." Peyton held him, trying to comfort him. "We both knew this day was going to come eventually. You know she still loves us though, and we love her… nothing is going to change that."

"Yeah." Lucas replied. "I just miss the time we use to spend together, you know."

"We both do." Peyton gave him a kiss. "I'll clean these up." She told him picking up the dishes.

As Peyton made her way to the sink, Lucas bent over and grabbed the box that was resting underneath his chair… it was the present he wrapped the night before. He wanted to surprise Lily with it, but she rushed off so fast he didn't have a chance to.

He undid the bow and carefully peeled off the wrapping paper. Slowly prying open the box and seeing the contents inside, it was only then at that very moment he realized that maybe she in fact wasn't his little girl anymore. He rested the box down onto the table before making his way back upstairs.

Peyton could only look on in disappointment as he left the room, obviously hurt and upset. She glanced back over at the kitchen table and saw the unwrapped box still lying there. She reluctantly picked up the gift and was saddened to finally see what Lucas had gotten her… they were a pair of ballet slippers with what looked like lilies embroidered on them.

------------------------------

The same way Lucas had books and Peyton had music, Lily had dance. Ever since the day Lucas took her to her first ballet, Tree Hill's annual Christmas Eve reenactment of _The Nutcracker_, all she wanted to do it seemed was pirouette and chasse around the house. With her old slippers now being beyond repair, Lucas figured it was about time she had a pair that she could call her own… only if she could've saw them as well.


	3. Chapter 2

**I know it's been a while, but yes I am alive hehe.**

**New ch and some new faces. Tell me what you think. :)**

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**Two**

_Dear Diary,_

_ Yesterday was my 15__th__ birthday, so much for being a happy one… It started off in typical fashion, me waking up and finding Lucas and Peyton in the kitchen 'cooking' their annual birthday breakfast for me. I love them both, but if they never cooked another meal ever again I'd totally be fine with that. Anyways, Lucas wanted to take me out afterwards, but I told him I had already made plans with Stacey. I didn't think it would be that big a deal…until I came back home. Peyton gave me Lucas' present, saying that I ran out so fast that he didn't get the chance to give it to me. That would've been all good and well if I didn't open the box… they just had to be new ballet slippers. So pretty much to sum it up, I spent the rest of my birthday feeling miserable for having treated my brother/dad the way I did. (You already know the story to that one.) On a lighter note, today being the last day of summer vacation, Me, Stace, and Kyle are gonna make one last trip down to the pool before school starts on Monday. Speaking of which, it's going to be our first year over at Tree Hill High. The joy… I know right. Well let's just hope it'll be a more enjoyable experience than junior high was. Keep your fingers crossed!_

_ -Lily_

…

"Lily sweetie, Stacey is here." Peyton yelled from downstairs.

Lily quickly closed her diary, tucking it back behind her headboard and rushed down the stairs.

"You ready?" Stacey asked seeing her run into the room.

"Yeah." Lily said grabbing her bag.

"Be home at nine, there's school tomorrow…" Peyton shouted as the girls left, but was answered only by the slamming of the door. She just smiled and shook her head.

------------------------------

"Can you pass me the sunscreen." Stacey rolled over to face Lily.

The two girls were enjoying the last hours of their summer vacation at the public pool, basking themselves in the little sun that was left.

"Crap." Lily searched through her tote. "I think I forgot to put it in my bag." She frowned.

"Here." Kyle said popping over Lily's shoulder, tossing her a bottle of sunscreen.

"Hey, when'd you get here?" She took the bottle.

"Just now." He got up. "You guys want anything, gonna head over to the concession stand." He offered.

Lily looked to Stacey, "Two cokes?"

Stacey nodded.

"Sure thing, two cokes coming up." Kyle replied.

Lily first met Stacey Malloy and Kyle Lowry in kindergarten. Lily and Stacey were fighting over who would get the last cookie until Kyle finally came over and offered to share his. The three have been best friends ever since.

"Rub some on my back, would ya." Stacey asked lying on her stomach.

Lily glared at her, "Fine."

…

"Here you go. One for you, and one for you." Kyle handed each of them a bottle.

"Thanks." Lily said.

"Oh, oh! Shift change." Stacey pointed while chugging down her coke.

"Huh?" Kyle responded.

"Shh." Lily snapped back.

The two girls had their eyes locked on the well-toned and very appealing lifeguard walking over to his post. Lily and Stacey watched almost as if he was moving in slow motion. They gazed in awe as he hopped up onto the lifeguard chair.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm." Stacey said. "I don't think I've ever seen swim trunks look _that_ good."

Lily lowered her sunglasses a slight bit, "I wouldn't mind having him give _me_ some mouth to mouth."

The two giggled.

"What's _so_ special bout him?" Kyle groaned.

The girls turned to him with a look of shock on their faces, almost as if he had said something terrible.

"You're joking right? Do you know _who_ that is?" Stacey exclaimed.

"Justin McGowen." Lily chimed in.

"No… Last season's leading scorer for the Tree Hill Ravens, Justin McGowen." Stacey corrected her.

Justin McGowen, or J-Mac as everyone calls him not only became the first freshmen to start for the Tree Hill Ravens, but he also became the first to lead the team in scoring. This of course brought him instant stardom and popularity among his fellow students, especially with the ladies. Now with the former captain off to college this year as well, it's almost a given that Justin will be named the new captain a.k.a. the new king of Tree Hill High.

Kyle looked on at the girls, who were still in their deep trance. "And you call me shallow."

------------------------------

"Meet at my house tomorrow, right?" Lily asked stepping off the bus.

"Yup." They both agreed.

"K." She waved.

"Call me later to tell me what you're wearing." Stacey added.

…

Lily rummaged through her bag and pulled out her keys, she went upstairs to her room and flopped down onto her bed. She couldn't help but to think back to yesterday, she still felt bad for leaving so suddenly. She didn't mean for Lucas to take it the way he did. She was pondering whether to go and talk to him, to tell him she was sorry.

"Hey kido." The sound of Lucas' voice came from her doorway.

"Okay wow, that was freaky." She mumbled to herself, sitting up.

"Huh." Lucas replied, not catching what she said.

"Nothing."

"So what's up?" He sat down next to her.

"Peyton gave me your gift." She broke the ice, looking down at her mattress. She couldn't bare to see the look on his face.

"I hope you liked them."

"Like 'em, I love 'em." She said. "I just wish you were able to give them to me in person. I feel bad about yesterday, I know it looked like I didn't want to spend time with you but I had already made plans with Stacey the previous day." She explained.

"Lils, its okay." He answered. "You don't have to apologize. I understand."

"No, you and Peyton have done so much for me. I don't want you guys to think you're not appreciated. To tell you the truth, I really love spending time with you guys." She confessed.

Lucas looked at her proudly, "You're really growing up." He told her. "But I don't want you to feel like you have to spend time with you old man." He joked. "I just always want us to be able to talk to each other. Okay?" He looked at her, opening his arms.

Lily nodded, falling into his embrace. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too honey." He told her. "So you excited about the big day tomorrow?" He pulled away from her.

"If by excited you mean terrified, then yeah."

Lucas smiled, "You'll be fine."

"How bout you?" Lily went on.

"Same."

"Excited or terrified?"

"Terrified." He admitted.

Lily wasn't the only one starting off on a new venture. A couple of years ago, Lucas landed one of the assistant coaching spots for the Tree Hill Ravens. When the current head coach resigned from the job recently, the athletic director didn't hesitate to offer Lucas the position. He figured with his work ethic and his past success as a former player, it seemed like the only logical and sure proof option.

"Well, I'll let you get some sleep. Goodnight munchkin." Lucas kissed Lily on her forehead.

"Night… coach." She grinned.

"Touché." He replied.


	4. Chapter 3

**New chapter.**

**Tell me what you guys think. :)**

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**Three**

Lily had herself locked up in the bathroom. Today being her first day at Tree Hill High and all, she had to look perfect… _of course_. As for about every teenage girl, boy for that matter, the first day of high school was always the most important and significant day in one's high school life, social wise anyhow.

Your outfit, your hair, your personality, the friends you hang out with, they all determine whether you'll end up the star of the basketball team, the prom queen at winter formal, the captain of the chess team, or the gothic loner.

In Lily's case, she just hoped she didn't become one of the latter. Most who knew her wouldn't consider her a prom queen per say, and although she was quite smart, she wasn't a nerd either. She was one of those lucky few who lied somewhere in between these stereotypes.

"Lily, sweetie you should get going." Peyton knocked on the door.

"In a minute." She shouted back.

"You also mister." Peyton added peaking into their bedroom where Lucas was getting ready as well.

"Yeah, I don't wanna be late on my first day." He answered.

…

"We're outta pop tarts." Lily announced, searching through the cabinets.

"I think we have some waffles in the freezer." Peyton told her.

"Hey kido, ready for the big day?" Lucas came into the kitchen, adjusting his tie.

"I guess." Lily sarcastically replied.

"I'm sure it will be fine." Peyton laughed.

"You know, if you need a ride." Lucas offered.

"_Dad…_" Lily snapped back.

"Ok, fine. Was worth he shot." He smiled.

Lily heard the ringing of the doorbell. "That's Stacey and Kyle." She said sticking a waffle in her mouth. "Bye." She kissed the both of them.

"Have a good day honey." Peyton proclaimed.

"See you there." Lucas joked.

Lily turned around and glared back at him as she left.

------------------------------

"What took you guys so long?" Lily asked her two friends.

"Stace _had _to stop over at the store." Kyle groaned.

Lily looked on confused. "For…"

"Some eye liner." Stacey replied.

"Oh, I could use a touch up." Lily said.

"You just got out the house." Kyle mocked.

"I love this brand."

"Yeah, it was on sale also." The two girls went on, completely ignoring him.

"I don't understand why you girls even wear that stuff." He chimed in.

"This coming from the guy who's mouth starts to water whenever Jessica Alba pops on the tube." Stacey retorted.

"She's an actress that's different."

"Really? I would've thought of you more as a Scarlett Johansson type." Lily teased.

"Whatever, let's go." Kyle changed the subject, obviously embarrassed now.

------------------------------

The three made their way into the courtyard of the high school, almost as if they were trying to get a feel of their surroundings; knowing full well that this place was going to be their new home for the next four years.

They stood there staring at the entrance.

"So you guys ready?" Lily asked anxiously.

"This place is huge." Kyle observed.

"So this is it… the first day of it all." Stacey added.

"You're so dramatic." He replied.

"Guys, focus." Lily interrupted them. "Ok, so we're meeting back here at lunch right?"

Kyle and Stacey nodded. "Yup."

"So what now?" Kyle looked at them both.

"I guess we go in."

"Wait! How do I look?" Stacey said posing.

"Fine. How bout me?" Lily requested, adjusting her hair.

"I'll see you two inside." Kyle sighed as he headed for the entrance.

------------------------------

Lily walked down the hallway searching for the correct locker. She glanced at the piece of paper in her hand where she scribbled down the number. Finally finding the matching number, she turned the dial and opened the locker door.

Throwing in a couple books and her jacket, she slammed the door shut and began to make her way to her next class. As she turned, she bumped into someone. She crashed to the floor, the books she was carrying now scattered along the floor.

She got to her knees and quickly tried to pick up all her stuff before anyone noticed; she felt like such a klutz. As she reached for her last book, she could see two feet blocking her way.

"Sorry about that." Justin said helping her up. "Ballet, huh." He grabbed the magazine off the floor.

"Yeah." Lily responded in awe.

"You any good?" He wondered as he handed her the magazine.

"I would hope so." She joked.

Justin let out a chuckle. "Well maybe I'll get to see you dance sometime then." He told her before heading down the hall.

Lily leaned against her locker and smiled to herself, trying to catch her breath.

------------------------------

Lily wiggled her way through the crowd of people, all while trying to keep her lunch tray from toppling over. She spotted Stacey and Kyle motioning to her and hurriedly walked in their direction.

"Ask me how my day went!" Lily exclaimed placing her tray on the table.

Stacey looked at her slightly confused. "How was your day?" She said, snatching a few of her fries.

"Guess who I bumped into. Literally…"

Before Stacey could even attempt to respond, Lily went on. "…I'll tell you. _Justin McGowen_." Lily's heart fluttered just saying his name.

Stacey's jaw dropped. "_What!_"

"Yeah, I still can't believe it myself."

Kyle listened as he picked at his plate. "What's the big deal." He mumbled.

Stacey waved her hand at him, trying to silence him. "You _gotta_ tell me _all_ about it." She shouted grabbing Lily's hand. "C'mon."

"Where are we going?" Lily protested.

"I need more fries, duh." Stacey told her.

Lily laughed. "Hey Jamie." She greeted noticing him.

"Hey." He replied, or tried to at least before her and Stacey disappeared into the crowd. "Where are they off to?" He took a seat next to Kyle.

"I don't know." Kyle answered somewhat annoyed.

"What's wrong with you?" James could tell something was wrong with his friend.

"Nothing. Just the girls are all worked up on this Justin guy." He explained.

"Justin McGowen?" James asked.

"Great, so you know him too." Kyle groaned

"Well yeah, who doesn't." James replied.

"Apparently me."

"Don't worry man. Lily isn't into those types anyway." He told him.

"We're talking about Lily Scott right?" Kyle mocked.

"Yeah, you're right." James laughed. "Why do you care anyways? It's not like you're into her. Are you?"

"_No_." He quickly snapped back.

"Still in denial I see." James grinned, shaking his head.

"I'm not." Kyle said still picking at his food.

------------------------------

_Dear Diary,_

_Today turned out to be better than I expected to say the least. I can't believe I get to have a locker next to Justin McGowen. I seriously thought I was going to pass out when he first talked to me. Just him saying how he would love to see me dance, I almost melted right then and there. Maybe next time though I'll tell him my name… I know stupid me, but I guess I can't complain right. Let's just hope all the days go as well as this one did. Oh, and yes, he's MUCH more handsome in person._

_-Lily_


	5. Chapter 4

**New Chapter, real sorry for the wait.**

**With my other story finally complete, hopefully I'll have more time to update this one more frequently from now on.**

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**Four**

Lily was staring at the bulletin board in the hallway, scanning through the various flyers posted up.

"Ooo, you're signing up for cheerleading too?!" Stacey gleamed running up behind her.

Startled, Lily jumped in place. "Geez." She slapped her on the arm. "No, try ballet." She said getting back to the subject, pointing to the poster.

"Oh yeah, you're a dancer and all." Stacey sighed.

"When did you become little miss cheerleader all of a sudden?" Lily curiously asked.

"You kidding? I can bring it." She posed.

Lily just glared at her.

"Fine. For the boys okay." Stacey admitted.

Lily laughed, shaking her head. "I knew it."

"What about you. I'm sure Justin will be there… all hot and sweaty." She raised her eyebrow.

Lily's eyes grew wide. "Stop."

"Was worth a try." Stacey grinned. "Speaking of whom…" She went on, noticing Justin walking down the hall in their direction.

Lily turned around nervously. As he past both of them, acknowledging Lily, he gave her the ever so slightest of smiles.

_Did he just smile at me? _Lily thought to herself. _Oh my god, oh my god._ Her mind went racing.

Stacey nudged her, almost as if to awaken her from her daydream.

Lily snapped back to the present, returning the smile as she waved at him.

Making sure he was out of their sight, the girls looked at each other and proceeded to squeal at the top of their lungs.

--

"Hey man." James walked up to Kyle.

"What's up?" Kyle answered back.

"Nothing much, just getting ready for try-outs." James told him, bouncing the ball his legs. "You should come with." He added.

"I think I'll pass." Kyle laughed.

"C'mon, it'll be fun." James insisted.

"Me and basketball don't go very well together… or at all for that matter."

"You can't be that bad." James replied.

Kyle snatched the ball from James and chucked it at the hoop, not even coming close to the basket.

"Fine, point made."

"I got piano lessons anyhow." Kyle mentioned.

"Oh yeah I forgot, mister music prodigy you." James mocked, picking up the ball.

Kyle let out a chuckle. "Catch you later."

"What, you aren't gonna wish me good luck?" James shrugged.

"Who are you trying to kid James Lucas _Scott_." Kyle mocked turning around.

With James' dad being the great Nathan Scott and all, basketball was embedded in his genes. Although he wasn't as good as his father once was, he wasn't a pushover either. In his own right, when push came to shove, he could hold his own on the court.

--

Students began filing into the gym. The boys were showing off, or at least trying to in front of the girls doing trick shots and what not. The girls just sat there on the bleachers unimpressed, laughing at their buffoonery; that is until Justin came walking onto the court.

Giving high fives to all of the guys, he grabbed one of the basketballs and almost nonchalantly he dashed towards the hoop and dunked the ball in with ease.

Surrounding him, the boys let out a roar.

"Hi J-Mac." One of the girls skipped up next to him.

"Hey Ashley." Justin greeted her.

"You look good out there." She smiled gleefully.

"Thanks."

"So you excited about the team?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna do my best to get us to state." He replied.

"With you leading them I'm sure you guys will." Ashley told him.

Justin nodded. "How bout you guys, you're gonna bring home a 3rd straight sparkle classic trophy?"

"I hope so, the pressure is getting to me already." She admitted.

"Tell me bout it."

"With you and me being the new captains, what can go wrong right?" She joked.

"Yup." He laughed.

"I should get to being the captain and all shouldn't I." She announced looking over to the girls. "I'll talk to you later." She said before heading back over to her soon to be squad.

"See ya." Justin smiled shaking his head.

"Who's that?" Stacey asked the girl next to her, watching on intently.

"That's Ashley Kline. Now with Tonya gone she's pretty much the most popular girl in the school now." The girl responded.

Stacey slowly nodded, knowing this didn't loom well for Lily. She looked at it as only just another reason she needed to join the squad, to keep her eyes on this 'Ashley'. _She has trouble written all over her. _She thought to herself.

"Ok, get up ladies. Lounge time is over." Ashley shouted clapping her hands.

Stacey and the girls quickly got up.

"Stand in a line. First thing first, we need to do a little waist inspection." She pulled out a tape measure from out of her pocket. "We can't have any _cows_ sinking down my pyramids."

"I guess I was right." Stacey mumbled under her breath.

"Did you say something?" Ashley turned to her.

"Oh, no." Stacey did everything to not burst out in laughter.

…

Meanwhile the boys were still goofing around waiting for their new coach to arrive.

"That's H.O.R.S.E." Justin told one of the kids.

He then took a shot from half court, it of course went in.

"You're up." Justin pointed to James.

James stepped forward unnerved, motioning for Justin to pass him the ball.

"You're Nate Scott's kid aren't you?" He asked, finally recognizing him.

"Yeah."

"I'm Justin, but call me J-Mac." He introduced himself.

"I know who you are." James replied in a somewhat aggravated tone. All he heard over this past week from Lily and Stacey was Justin this, Justin that. He felt as if he knew everything about the guy without even meeting him yet.

"Show me what you got." Justin went on.

James lined up the shot and in one swift motion flung the ball in the air, a few seconds later the ball landed in the basket, nothing but net.

"Good shot, looks like we may have a shot at state after all." Justin smacked his hand.

The two continued to match each other's shots. That was until Justin finally decided to throw down a dunk.

James knew full well he wasn't going to be able to pull this one off. He stepped back as far as he could and slowly ran towards the hoop, hoping someway somehow he would miraculously reach the rim. As he was about to take his leap off the floor, the loud blow of a whistle flooded the room.

"Enough with the games, let's get down to business gentlemen." Lucas yelled. "Line up."

The boys lined up along the baseline, holding their hands behind their back.

"My name is Lucas Scott, Tree Hill alum and former Raven shooting guard, but it's Coach to you." He introduced himself. "Do you guys have any idea what being a Tree Hill Raven truly means? Seasons like last year _don't_ happen. 8 and 15, 1 and 7 in division play isn't gonna cut it at all." He told them. "You want one of those?" He pointed to the state championship banner hanging from the rafters. "It's gonna take a lot of work, but if you listen to what I tell you and more importantly play as a _team_… I see no reason why we can't hoist another one of those up together." He continued.

"Now I don't care what you may have done last season, this season it's a whole new slate. Give me your best and I promise we'll reach new heights." He looked on at them. "Because I've had about enough of you guys disgracing this uniform… Suicides, now!" He shouted, blowing his whistle.

With no hesitation, the boys began sprinting up and down the court.

"Pick it up!" Lucas ordered.

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**Tell me what you guys think. :)**


	6. Chapter 5

**New chapter.**

**School's been a pain in the butt, really sorry for the long wait. Now with my finals pretty much over with, hopefully I can give you guys another update in these next couple of weeks of so.**

**The story finally begins to unravel a little in this ch, enjoy. Please tell me what you guys think and if you like where I'm taking things so far. :)**

* * *

**Five**

_Dear Diary,_

_So today is the big day, ballet try-outs. I've been up all day and night for the past couple of days practicing my pirouettes and chasses trying to get them perfect. I'm a little nervous about the auditions, I just hope I don't fall like I did in junior high… god that was embarrassing. Umm what else? Oh yeah, Stacey called me the other night and told me that she actually made the squad. I don't know who was more surprised, me or her. She apparently had something else to tell me, but the line broke up. I guess I'll just have to wait for her other news. Oh crap… its eight already? I should get going before I'm late for school. Wish me luck!_

_-Lily_

--

"Okay ladies, line up. First position." Mrs. Hurwitz instructed the young girls.

The girls scurried and lined up against the railing, beginning their warm-ups. Lily and the girls squatted down waving their arms.

Mrs. Hurwitz stood in front of them. "Okay, you all were given the routine beforehand to practice. I'll call you each up one by one, good luck."

Walking back over to her desk, she grabbed her clipboard and examined it. Adjusting her glasses she called out, _"Megan Reese?"_ She glanced up at the flock of girls until one of them at last stood up.

"_Courtney Dolan…"_

One by one each of the girls were called up. Lily sat there nervously waiting for her name.

"_Diana Edwards…"_

There were only two girls left, Lily and a blonde sitting across from her.

"_Lily Scott?"_ Mrs. Hurwitz finally called.

Lily proceeded to stand up, making her way to the front of the room.

Mrs. Hurwitz pressed the play button on the stereo. Taking her mark, Lily took a gulp as she waited for her cue.

Lily drained out everything else in the room, simply focusing on the music that was coming from the stereo. When the moment arrived she began the routine. Gliding along the floor, she made it all look so effortless. The ending was coming up and Lily set herself up for the pirouette. As she crossed her legs to start the twirl, her feet got tangled up and she crashed to the floor.

Lily slowly looked backed up at Mrs. Hurwitz and the girls. Mrs. Hurwitz had a frown and a look of concern on her face, while the girls were laughing hysterically; the same one blonde in particular. With the music finally stopping on the stereo, Lily's focus now turned to the laughter.

"Ashley, that's enough." Mrs. Hurwitz told the blonde.

Ashley gave off a smirk. "Fine." With that, she made her way to the front of the room. "Is it my turn yet? I'm assuming it is."

Not waiting for a response, she went through the routine with ease. She smiled, still knelt down on the floor in her pose. Getting up, she made sure to pass Lily who was still hunched down on the floor as well. "That's how it's done." Ashley mocked her as she passed her.

Lily's eyes began to swell and water up. Trying to hold it back, she quickly stood up and ran out of the room.

Mrs. Hurwitz and the other girls gave Ashley a cold glare, shaking their heads.

"What?" She replied, still smiling mischievously.

--

Carrying her lunch tray Lily roamed around the courtyard looking for a place to sit. She conveniently found a spot tucked in the corner. She wanted to be alone, which was understandable.

Picking away at her food, she attempted to take a bit but was too upset to even bother. She still couldn't believe that her clumsy self fell… again. She almost wanted to pinch herself, wishing and hoping that this all was just some sick and twisted nightmare. As if the embarrassment of falling down in front of the entire class wasn't enough, the ridicule she got afterwards was unbearable even for her. She wasn't sure what was more upsetting, her most likely not making the team or being made an absolute fool of.

She thought to herself what could the girl, what's her name, Ashley possibly even have against her? I mean she didn't even know her, let alone have the right to treat her that way. Lily came to the conclusion that she must be a spawn of Satan himself. That or she simply is just that cold-hearted.

Now thinking about it, Lily wished she hadn't run out of the room so suddenly and actually stood up to her, but she for certain wasn't going to get that chance now.

…

Finally finding her, Stacey took a seat next to Lily. "Hey, why you sitting all the way back here?"

"So how was your dance thingy?"

Before Lily could answer, Stacey looked down and noticed that she was scribbling away in her diary.

"Uh oh, what's wrong?" She asked.

"What?" Lily shot back not knowing what she was talking about.

Stacey titled her head to the side. "C'mon. The only time you _ever_ write in that thing in public is when something's on your mind."

"What's it this time? Get a B on a test? Lucas getting on your nerves again?" She joked.

Lily glared at Stacey. "Noo."

"Then what?" Stacey asked as she attempted to sneak a peak of what she was writing in the little notebook.

"Stop." Lily protested covering up the page.

"I'm gonna find out eventually, so you might as well just tell me." Stacey said.

Lily of all people knew that this was exactly the case. She might as well just give in now, it was only a matter of time before she found out anyway.

"I fell again." She finally told her.

"Huh." Stacey replied not catching on.

"I _fell…_ again." Lily repeated.

"Ohh." Stacey at last caught on. "Oh my god, you didn't?"

"Yup." Lily nodded.

"Again?" She asked, just wanting to make sure she heard correct.

"Yes!" Lily shouted, obviously still frustrated.

"Sorry." Stacey responded. "Are you okay?" She went on worried now.

"I guess… not really." She admitted.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." Stacey tried to make light of the situation.

"If by not bad you mean falling in front of the entire class and having girls laugh at you, then no… it wasn't bad at all." Lily retorted.

"They didn't…"

"Well it wasn't all the girls, just one of them in particular. Ashley? That's what the teacher called her anyway." She said disgusted.

Stacey cringed a little knowing full well who she was talking about. She should've known, there was only one girl in Tree Hill High cruel enough to do such a thing. "_Oh, really?_ That sucks." She tried to play on.

"It was horrible." Lily proclaimed. "I don't know why she would do that?" She said still trying to make sense of it all.

"Beats me." Stacey fibbed. "Just ignore her, she probably was just jealous."

"Jealous? About what?" Lily couldn't understand.

Stacey realized her error. "_Oh, uh _your… dancing." She tried to back track.

"Maybe, but that doesn't give her the right to just lash out on me. I mean _who _even _does_ that?"

"Tell me bout it." Stacey nodded, taking a deep sigh of relief knowing she just dodged a bullet.

After a good minute or so of silence, Lily finally broke the ice. "So what did you wanna tell me?"

"Huh?" Stacey looked up, not knowing what she was referring to.

"The other night. It seemed like you had something else to tell me but the line broke up." She explained.

"Oh, it was nothing." Stacey replied. She figured this wasn't the best of times to spill the news just yet. She wasn't sure if it was news to begin with.

"Alright." Lily said, but she could tell something was up.

--

Lily opened the front door to find Lucas and Peyton sitting there in the living room.

"Hi sweetie." Peyton greeted her.

"How was school?" Lucas echoed.

"Fine." Lily replied before she proceeded to march up the stairs to her room.

Peyton scrunched up her face. "Something's wrong."

Lucas lowered the newspaper below his eyes. "How could you tell?"

"I just can." She responded already making her way up the stairs.

"Okay." He simply said before raising the paper back to eye-level.

…

"Hey you." Peyton lightly knocked on the door. "Was heading to bed, just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Yup." Lily nodded.

"K, well there's some leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry." She told her giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "Night."

"Peyton." Lily called for her abruptly.

"Yeah honey." Peyton turned back around.

"Thanks." Lily smiled.

"For what?" She asked.

"Just for being here."

"Where else would I be?" Peyton returned the smile.

After she left, Lily found the courage and strength to put it all behind her. Getting up from her desk, Lily released the diary from her grasp and bound it shut, tucking it back behind her headboard.

Flopping down on her bed, she starred up at the ceiling. Whether she liked it or not, this sure was a day to remember. Lily flipped over to her side and turned off her lamp. She just hoped that tomorrow would turn out a whole lot better than today has.

--

_The next day…_

Mrs. Hurwitz came out of her office and walked over to the bulletin board, pinning the piece of paper up onto the wall. Lily and Stacey waited for the crowd of students to scatter before making their way to the board.

"I don't know if I can." Lily said shaking nervously.

"C'mon, you wanna know don't you?" Stacey insisted.

With her eyes still closed, Stacey led her to the sheet of paper. Slowly opening them, she looked over at Stacey.

"Well…" She looked at her.

"Okay, here goes nothing." Lily replied.

She put her finger up against the piece of paper, scanning through the list of names. Scrolling down each row, she began to lose hope when she came up to the last couple of names. Not even wanting to continue, she couldn't bare the sheer disappointment and possibility that her name maybe wasn't on the list.

Giving her a slight nudge, Stacey wouldn't let her friend off that easily.

Lily took a deep breath. Expecting the worst, she went on to read the last few names. Still no luck, she came to the very last one. In her mind, her fate was already determined… she didn't make it. Thinking the name wasn't going to be hers, Lily figured she might as well end the misery and just read off the last name… _Lily Scott._

In shock, Lily read over the name again, thinking it was some sort of mirage. "What's the last name on the list say?" She looked over at Stacey for confirmation, still unable to comprehend it.

"Lily Scott. You. Why?" Stacey replied. "Oh my god! _You!!_"

Lily and Stacey proceeded to jump up and down, yelling at the top of their lungs.

Mrs. Hurwitz came back out from her office hearing the commotion. "Okay, okay. Settle down girls."

"Sorry." Lily told her.

"I can see you heard the good news." Mrs. Hurwitz smiled.

"Oh Mrs. Hurwitz, thank you for giving me this opportunity." Lily thanked her.

"No need to thank me. You deserved the spot."

"I just figured with the slip up my chances were pretty much over with."

"That's happen to all of us, don't worry about it. Before your stumble, that was all I needed to see to give your evaluation. You're a good dancer." She told the girl.

Lily nodded. "I promise I won't let you down."

"I know you won't." She smiled before heading back into her office.

Seeing the door shut, the girls proceeded back to their cheering.

It was soon interrupted however when Ashley made her way through the crowd with some conviction. Glancing over the list, she was happy to see that her name was the first on the list. There weren't any shocks or surprises until she came to the last name. Trying to hide her apparent shock, she blew it off and turned to the girls.

"So I guess Mrs. H felt some pity for you." She told Lily.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I guess she did." She played along.

"She just better not take it easy on you. That's the last thing we need." Ashley flipped her hair back in disgust.

"Believe me, I can keep up. Don't worry bout me." Lily mocked.

"Whatever." Ashley said. She was about to make her exit, but decided to turn back around. "So I guess I'll see you at practice then."

"I guess you will." Lily shot back.

"Not you." Ashley shunned her. "What is it, Susan?" She pointed to Stacey.

"It's Stacey." She put on a half-hearted smile.

"Ok Stella." She responded.

Lily looked on confused, not knowing what was going on. "You two know each other?"

"Long story." Stacey whispered.

"_Oh,_ she didn't tell you?" Ashley laughed. "Yours truly is cheer captain as well." She smiled triumphantly.

Lily stood there a little taken back, not knowing what this all meant. One thing was for sure, she didn't like it one bit to say the least.


	7. Chapter 6

**New chapter. Enjoy. :)**

**Tell me what you guys think.**

* * *

**Six**

"I'm off to school. Bye." Lily shouted before slamming the door shut behind her.

…

Finally hearing the door close, Peyton rolled over in the bed and gently wrapped her arms around her husband.

"Wake up sleepy head." Peyton soothed.

"Ughh." Lucas groaned. Tossing and turning, he slowly opened his eyes.

"I think we're _all_ alone…" She whispered in his ear, nibbling it a little.

"_Oh, really?"_ He turned to his side to face her, realizing where she was going with this.

Peyton simply nodded suggestively.

With that the two mingled into one another, each taking turns to fondle the other. Taking charge, Lucas leaped on top of Peyton and ever so softly began to kiss the nape of her neck.

Cupping the back of his head, Peyton let out a moan.

Moving down to her collarbone, he continued to leave his trail of kisses. Gently lowering her shirt, he moved to her shoulder. Before going any further, he quickly glanced over to the nightstand to read the time on the clock.

"Oh god." He blurted out.

"What?" Peyton sat up confused.

"I'm gonna be late." He got up and grabbed a pair of jeans that were lying on the chair nearby.

"You don't have to be there 'til 10." She whined.

"Yeah I know, but I want to get over there early to make sure everything is in order." He told her. "It being my first real practice and all, I wanna be prepared."

"Yeah." Peyton nodded, with some disgust in her voice.

"I should get going." Lucas announced adjusting his tie. "I'll be home around 5."

"Hey, I want credit for this!" She crawled over to the edge of the bed and yelled before he left the room.

Flopping back down on the bed, she smothered herself with her pillow. "I hate basketball." She pouted.

——————————

"Wow, okay what's wrong?" Kyle asked.

He looked over at the two girls on each side of him, both rather suspiciously quite.

"I haven't heard you guys this quite since… _ever_." He continued.

The girls simply just sat there with their arms crossed; both giving neither the slightest bit of mind.

The three got off the bus and went on to make the short walk over to Tree Hill High. After about another few minutes or so of silence, Kyle couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay, you guys are scaring me." He proclaimed. "I never thought I would be saying this but… one of you _please_ say something." He pleaded.

"Kyle." Lily finally broke the silence. "Tell little miss cheerleader over there that I'm not talking to her; for obvious reasons."

Kyle looked on confused, not knowing what was going on. "Tell her yourself."

"Kyle. Tell little miss quick to jump to conclusions that this is just one big misunderstanding." Stacey snapped back.

"What are we back in kindergarten?" He mocked.

"Kyle." Lily said, a little more heated this time. "Tell _Stacey_ what is there to misunderstand? That she's a _liar_, a _backstabber_…"

"Don't you think you're being a little harsh." Kyle interrupted her.

"No, it's fine." Stacey replied. "Tell _Lily_ that I wanted to tell her but with the whole audition dilemma, I didn't think it was the right time."

"You guys lost me." Kyle announced.

Shooing him away, Stacey turned to Lily. "I don't even get why this is such a big deal."

Lily stared at her with a blank expression.

"So okay, I didn't tell you at the time, but I mean did you really think I meant to hide it from you? I just met the girl the other day myself, what do you want from me?" She went on.

After hearing what she had to say, Lily's expression turned to a more apologetic one. "I know, I guess I was still upset about it all and took it out on you." She confessed.

Stacey frowned. "Well I forgive you. Come here." She said as she pulled Lily in for a hug.

Lily let out a laugh and gladly received the hug from her best friend.

"It's been absolute torture not talking to you these past couple of days." Stacey told her.

"Tell me 'bout it." Lily replied. "Let's promise to never fight again."

"Deal." Stacey replied.

Still watching the whole ordeal, Kyle looked on more confused than ever. "What just happened…?"

——————————

"Correct Dayleen, nice interpretation." Ms. Kwon told the girl just before the bell began to blare loudly.

With that, the students hurriedly flooded out of the room.

"Remember your essays are due next Tuesday." Ms. Kwon shouted as they rushed for the door.

"So what are you doing now?" Stacey asked Lily as they walked down the hallway.

"Dance practice." Lily sighed.

"Sounds fun." Stacey replied. "Just ignore her."

"Yeah, I'm over it." Lily told her.

"Good, that girl isn't worth the time of day anyway." Stacey said as she dumped her books into her locker. "Okay. I guess I'll head over to the mall then. Call me later?"

"K." Lily laughed grabbing her ballet slippers, leaving for the dance studio.

——————————

"2-3 zone, 2-3 zone!" Lucas shouted motioning his hands, trying to get his players' attention.

"Wow, so this is what you got to work with?" Nathan walked up next to him.

"How are we gonna be ready for the first game next week." Lucas answered slightly worried.

"Well the offense looks pretty good." Nathan observed.

"That's the JV team dawg." Skills told him.

"No, no, no!" Lucas screamed in frustration. "Alright, bring it in." He blew his whistle.

The boys jogged back to the sideline, huddling up.

"Guys, I would like you to meet the new assistant coaches." Lucas said to the boys. "Both were former teammates of mine, Nathan Scott and Antwon Taylor." He announced to the team. "I want you guys to give them the same respect as you would for me or any of your other teammates."

"Okay, so let's get down to business." He continued. "We have exactly one week 'til our opening game against Bear Creek. Before we even start worrying about them, we gotta get our system down pat and discover our own style of play." He explained.

"That's simple… just pass the rock to me." Justin chimed in, walking into the gym.

"You're late." Lucas told him.

"So. I'm also your star player." Justin replied rather smugly.

"Not this year you're not." Lucas shot back. He gave a quick blow on his whistle afterwards. "Alright, get back to work."

"Oh, Justin is it?" Lucas said before he could run off.

"J-Mac." Justin turned back around correcting him.

"_J-Mac."_ Lucas replied sarcastically. "You can go ahead and give me 50 laps." He smiled.

Justin gave the coach a cold glare and proceeded to sprint around the gym, not bothering to argue; not today at least.

——————————

Lily hesitantly opened the door, not knowing what to expect when she walked in. Taking a deep breath, she made her way to one of the rails on the opposite end of the room where some of the other girls were already warming up.

Propping one leg onto the rail, she began her stretches. She was surprised and relieved that everyone seemed quite nice and pleasant, almost as if they've all forgotten about what happened at auditions completely. Up until Lily saw out of the corner of her eye Ashley walking slowly but surely in her direction.

"So you decided to show after all." Ashley greeted her, the only way she knew how.

Lily tried her best to ignore her but that lasted about a whole two seconds. "What's your problem?" She shot back.

Before Ashley could respond, Mrs. Hurwitz thankfully walked into the room.

"Okay ladies, first position." She instructed.

Ashley rolled her eyes at Lily and leisurely made her way back over to her spot.

…

"Good job girls, see you on Friday." Mrs. Hurwitz told them as she went back into her office.

Lily started to pack her things into her bag, she couldn't help but to overhear the conversation Ashley was having with two of the other girls.

"_Did you see J-Mac at practice today?" _One of them squealed.

"_So what's the deal with you two anyways?" _The other girl asked Ashley.

"_Last year was just a little bump in the road. I think he's finally coming to his senses." _She replied. _"I mean c'mon, who would turn down this."_

The three girls let out a giggle.

Hearing enough Lily looked down to the floor and quickly picked up her bag, trying to leave unnoticed. As she was making her way out of the door she was stopped dead in her tracks when she slammed into someone.

"Sorry." She apologized as she raised her head to see who it was.

"Oh, hey." Justin smiled. "We gotta stop meeting like this." He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the towel around his neck.

"Tell me 'bout it." Lily rubbed her shoulder.

"So you just came out of practice?" Justin asked.

"Yeah."

"So how was it?"

"Oh, fine." She looked back into the room and saw Ashley with her arms crossed, staring a hole into her.

Justin let out a laugh. "Ash giving you problems?"

"I guess you could say that." Lily replied.

"Don't worry about her, she's harmless." He informed her.

"Yeah, I know." Lily answered back. "So how 'bout you? You look awful." She said noticing the shape he was in.

"Why, thanks."

"A _good_ awful." She replied giggling.

"Let's just say me and Coach didn't start off on the same page." Justin tried to make light of the situation.

"Hmm really?" Lily grinned a little.

"What, you know him?" He asked curiously.

"He's sort of my brother…" She told him cringing, not knowing how he was going to take it.

"No way, you're kidding?" Justin looked on, now clearly uncomfortable. "Well forget everything I just said then, Coach and I get along fine."

"Too late now." Lily laughed.

"Thought I would give it a try." Justin shrugged." "Well on that note, I should get going." He chuckled. "Until we _bump_ into each other again." He gave her another smile before walking down the hall.

Lily gave off a slight smirk as she walked off herself, making sure to turn around one last time to see the expression on Ashley's face.

——————————

_Dear Diary,_

_Where's a camera when you need it? If I ever did need one today was the day. Omg I wish you could've seen the look on Ashley's face… it was priceless. Just seeing her stand there absolutely dumbfounded made my day. Well now with the bad news… you knew it was coming. Anyways, apparently something happened between Ashley and Justin. I honestly can't see it, but he obviously saw something in her. It seems though that whatever was going on between them is over now… Let's hope so at least. I think I'm gonna have to have do some detective work to get my answer._

_-Lily_


	8. Chapter 7

**New chapter.**

**Shorta a filler, but still enjoyable. :)**

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**Seven**

_Dear Diary,_

_Same old same old, nothing exciting really happening. Things around here are a little antsy and all with Lucas and the Ravens first game coming up. I swear if he asks me one more time a question relating to basketball I'm going to kill myself. As for the whole Justin scenario, I haven't screwed that one up yet surprisingly (Yeah I know). I'm praying that Luke being his coach and all doesn't make things awkward between us now. I just hope he doesn't find out anytime soon before he totally blows my chances with him. I still don't know what to make of the whole Ashley twist, but I'm not going to let her get to me for damn sure. Oh well, that's it for today I guess. I'll just have to wait and see how this all plays out, which scares me even more now that I'm thinking about it._

_-Lily_

——————————

"So let me get this right, I'm suppose to believe that a donkey can actually talk." Kyle said walking out of the movie theater.

"I thought it was cute." Lily replied giggling.

"Don't forget about the cat in boots." James pointed out, mocking the movie also.

"You guys are idiots." Stacey told them both.

"So what do you wanna do now? Grab something to eat?" Lily wondered.

"Sure." Kyle agreed. "Wait, what time is it?" He asked before going any further.

"Quarter to five, why?" Stacey answered.

"Five already? Crap, I gotta get back home for my piano lesson." Kyle announced.

"I should get going also. With our first game coming up on Tuesday, Uncle Luke has gone absolutely mental." James said as well.

"Great." Lily replied, watching the two run off in their respective directions.

"Wanna go to the mall?" Stacey turned to Lily, almost seeming to be relieved that the two boys were now out of their hair.

"Eh, why not." She shrugged.

——————————

"Sorry." Kyle came rushing into the living room.

"You're late." Kevin looked down to his watch, already sitting down at the piano bench.

"Lost track of time, the movie ran a little late." Kyle explained as he took a seat next to him.

"So did you have fun on your _date_ at least?" Kevin continued, smirking a little.

Rather from your typical piano instructor, Kevin Russell was only in his mid twenties; which was one of the reasons Kyle could relate and confine in him so much. Kevin recently just graduated from the UNC campus at Chapel Hill and is currently getting his Master's Degree in Music Education there as well.

"It was just with friends." Kyle replied, looking down at the piano.

"Mmhmm, if that's your story." Kevin answered back, not fully believing him but he didn't want to push the subject any further. "Why don't we start off with the Bach number." He told him.

"Ok." Kyle nodded.

Kyle slowly brought his hands up to piano and rested his fingers on the keys, adjusting them until he felt comfortable. When he finally was, he began to strike the keys.

Since a young age, music had always been a big part of Kyle's life. Ever since he was a little boy, Kyle was drawn to the ebony and ivory. Ever weekend when he would visit his grandfather, the first thing he would do is run to the upright antique piano his grandfather conveniently had sitting around there and play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star— it was the only song he knew at the time. He would keep playing it seemed up until the very instant his parents eventually come back to pick him up. Where then they both would have to pry him away from the instrument coincidently.

With his grandfather's death a few years ago, Kyle's passion for music only became that much more meaningful. The one thing that he did leave for Kyle was his piano, and to this day Kyle's most prized possession is still that very piano.

"Wow, you've been practicing." Kevin observed.

With his eyes closed shut, Kyle just continued finishing the piece. Almost as if he was draining out everything else around him and simply letting the music take a hold of him.

——————————

James rushed into the gymnasium where everyone else was apparently already warming up and doing their drills, waiting for the coach Scott to arrive.

A couple minutes later, Lucas at last walked into the gym. Not waiting to blow his whistle to get his players' attention.

"Huddle up guys." He shouted out. "I called you guys here today for one last practice. We have Bear Creek on Tuesday and if we want any chance in winning we're going to have to play as a team… a unit." He looked on at the boys with determination, pausing for a moment.

"None of you twelve are greater than any of you others." He added.

Justin snickered a little under his breath at his last comment.

"You have something to share with us Mr. McGowen?" Lucas asked.

Justin stood up with no hesitation. "C'mon Coach, you have us cooped in here on a Saturday. Let's just call it a day, we all know who's going to take us home on Tuesday and ride us to state." He said grinning.

"Believe what you will, but unless you change your attitude the only thing you'll be riding is some pine." Lucas informed him.

Not taking him seriously whatsoever, Justin shrugged his coach off. "You won't do that, I'm your only hope at even _getting to_ the playoffs."

"That may be so, but in my eyes you're just as important as any of the other guys in here… and until you realize that, _you _and _this _team will suffer." Lucas gave another attempt to get inside his head, but Justin wanted none of it.

"We'll see." He replied rather smugly and unconvinced.

With that, Lucas gave a loud blow on his whistle. "Sprints, now!"

The boys leaped to their feet, proceeding to run up and down the court.

"You gotta do a whole lot better than that this if you wanna win on Tuesday!" Lucas yelled trying to encourage them.

Picking up the pace, they began running feverously.

"That's more like it." Lucas looked on intently, noticing out of the corner of his eye Justin leisurely jogging behind the pack—if you could even call what he was doing that.

——————————

"Ooo that's a cute color." Stacey told Lily as they scanned through the rack of clothes.

"Yeah." Lily replied. "Err, never mind." She continued, looking down at the price tag.

"So what's going on with you?" Stacey asked trying to spark conversation.

"Oh, nothing as usual." Lily sighed.

"So I'm guessing that's a negative on the Justin front." Stacey said as she picked up a beige halter top.

"Pretty much." Lily answered back.

"I'm sure he feels the same way you do." Stacey tried her best to assure her friend.

Lily gave off a slight nod. "At this point I'm not even sure he does." Lily said sounding a bit dejected.

"You're still not worried 'bout Ashley are you?"

"Should I be?" Lily looked at her a little concerned.

"No, not at all." Stacey replied.

"What dirt do you have on her?" Lily cocked her head to the side, knowing that she was leaving something out.

"Nothing, really. Just stuff you already knew. They use to sorta, kinda have this thing but it ended badly." Stacey told her.

"_Badly?"_ Lily questioned the choice of words.

"I don't know, that's all I got." Stacey said. "No one knows exactly what happened, other than well besides them two. I'm sure whatever the two had is long gone by now." She added.

Lily had tuned Stacey out long before she even responded.

"Oh I know, why don't you come to the game on Tuesday. I'm sure Justin will be glad to see you there." Stacey continued.

Lily simply just stood there staring off into space, still in her own world.

"Earth to Lils…" Stacey waved her hand in front of Lily's face.

Lily's eyes fluttered for a second, snapping out of her daze.

"_So…_ the game?" Stacey asked again.

"You _do_ remember that my brother _is _the coach right?" She reminded her.

"Oh yeah." Stacey replied. "Wait, so does that mean you're coming?"

All Lily could do was laugh as she shook her head.

——————————

"C'mon guys, show me something." Lucas shouted over the squeaks coming from the boys sneakers on the hardwood floor.

The boys were still running up and down the court, sweat dripping down their faces and their clothes soaked as well.

"If we're going to run 'n gun you're going to have to move a whole lot better than this." He added looking at them.

Lucas, Nathan, and Skills agreed that a heavy offensive oriented game style would fit the best with the personal they had. High octane and energy, fast breaks, three pointers, and aside from these, it would bring the interest back into the program at least and entertain the fans.

"Okay guys, let's call it a day." Lucas announced blowing his whistle loudly, satisfied with their effort— well all except for one in particular.

"Yo, Jimmy Jam." Justin yelled out to James as he and the other boys were heading back to the locker room.

It had only been over a week or so, but Justin already had given most of his teammates nicknames.

James turned around. "Hey, what's up."

"So you're friends with Lily Scott right?" Justin asked him, clinging onto the towel wrapped around his neck— which seemed a little pointless being that there wasn't even remotely a single drop of sweat on his forehead.

"I would hope so, she being my cousin and all." James replied.

"Yeah, right, Scott Scott." Justin said. "So what's her deal, anything I need to know?" He went on.

"Umm, not really." James told him. "What, you like her or something?" He joked, not knowing how dead on he really was.

"Oh, nah man. I was just curious, that's all." Justin tried to play it off.

"Alright." James said a little confused as he continued to walk back to the locker room.


	9. Chapter 8

**New chapter. Sorry for such the long wait, but was preoccupied with a couple of things.**

**Took me a while to write this one, but I think you guys will enjoy this one. Enjoy. :)**

**I hope to post the next chapter sometime in the next week or two, so look out for that as well. Okay, end of ramble lol.**

* * *

**Eight**

"I don't get what's such the big deal." Lily declared, looking around the courtyard of the school.

Tonight was opening night for the Tree Hill High Raven's basketball team. Every inch of the school's halls and walls were covered in blue, black, and white it seemed. Understandably so, basketball was almost a religion in the town, second to none when it came to its residents. Now with Tree Hill High's last state championship being over 15 years ago and the start of a new season only a couple of hours away, the town was buzzing with hope of finally getting back to the promise land this year.

"Beats me." Kyle replied.

The two were sitting there in the courtyard eating their lunch. If one didn't know any better, you wouldn't even think anything special was about to take place with the blank expressions on both their faces.

"And to think, we've got another god knows how many weeks of this." Lily groaned as if she was in actual pain.

"10, and that's not counting if they make the playoffs." Kyle told her.

Just as he was able to finish his sentence, the cheers coming from the cheerleading squad in the midst of their practice could be heard off in the distance. Lily looked over at the girls who were waving their arms in a rhythmic motion to the music, with smiles glued onto their faces. Lily thought to herself if it were even humanly possible to smile for that long. It took her a second, but she found Stacey tucked in the back row of the formation. It still took her some getting use to, actually seeing her best friend as one of _them_— a cheerleader.

"Well I'm glad to know there's one person who isn't caught up in all this hype." She turned back to Kyle.

"You know me and sports, I don't bother it and it doesn't bother me."

Lily let out a giggle. "You're coming to the game thought right?"

"No way, I wouldn't go tonight for the life of me." Kyle shot back.

"Kyle…" Lily whined. "You _have_ to." She demanded.

"Give me one good reason why?" He asked, hoping though she wouldn't come up with one.

Lily glared at him for a few seconds. "Because if Luke and Stace are dragging me to this thing, then I'm gonna drag you along as well." She responded.

Kyle slumped his head down in defeat, knowing there was no way he was going to wiggle out of this one. _"Fine."_

Lily gave off a smile, but it was soon diminished when a crowd of Raven fans conveniently came marching up behind her blowing horns and holding up signs.

Lily cringed, clearly annoyed as she covered her ears in an attempt to drown out the almost deafening noise. "I hate basketball."

——————————

Lucas sat in the dining room with a stern and worried look on his face, tapping the table with his fingers. Lifting his arm, he glanced down at his watch. _I can't believe I'm gonna be late for my first game. _He thought.

A couple minutes later, Peyton emerged from the doorway.

"Finally." Lucas stood up. "Where's Lily?" He looked around realizing she was missing.

"She still must be getting ready." Peyton replied.

"How long does it take to get ready for a basketball game." Lucas said bitterly.

Peyton rolled her eyes knowing he wasn't just referring to her.

"Lils c'mon! We gotta get going." Lucas shouted up the stairway.

Hearing the feint voice coming from downstairs, in a feeble attempt, Lily picked herself up off her bed and reluctantly made her way out of the room. "Coming." She sighed.

——————————

Lily shuffled through the crowd trying to find a familiar face. Finally finding Kyle, she took a seat next to him.

"Nice of you to show." Kyle turned to her.

She looked onto the court and saw that the two teams were still doing their warm-up drills. "So I didn't miss anything?" She asked somewhat disappointed.

"Nope." He smirked.

"Great." Lily sarcastically replied.

"_Where you've been?"_ Stacey suddenly jumped in front of them both.

Startled, Lily answered her. "I just got here."

"Well Justin's been asking about you." Stacey told her with an inquisitive look.

Kyle rolled his eyes hearing the last comment.

"_Really?!_ Where is he now?" Lily eagerly asked.

"Oh, he and the team had to go back in the locker room."

Lily gave off a little frown.

"Why don't you stay after the game, I'm sure you'll get to talk to him then." Stacey mentioned.

Before Lily could answer her, Ashley and the other cheerleaders were calling Stacey back over to the sidelines.

"Gotta go." Stacey ran off.

. . .

Not too long after, the lights in the gymnasium went out. Spotlights dancing around the room and with music blaring on the loudspeakers, the Tree Hill public announcer began bellowing over the enormous roar:

"_And now… Please welcome your Tree.. Hill... RAVENS!!"_ The man shouted.

On cue, the team came running out of the locker room, busting through the blue and black T.H.H.S. banner.

The cheerleaders greeted the team's arrival with a few cartwheels, a few high kicks, and lifts of their pom poms.

"_Starting at center… Hector Lopez."_ The announcer began to call off the starting lineup.

The crowd applauded in response.

"_At power forward… Anthony Peeler."_ The man continued.

The people in the stands gave off another cheer.

"_At small forward… Jamal Anderson."_

Claps echoed through the gym.

"_At point guard… Tommy Thomson."_

More applause followed.

"_Lastly, at shooting guard."_ The announcer paused for a moment. _"Last year's leading scorer… Justin McGowen!"_

This time the crowd erupted, letting out a roar that almost tore the roof off.

Kyle remained seated, looking around he realized he was the only in the entire crowd doing so. He turned to his right and even Lily was standing at this point.

Like Kyle, Lily had a dislike for any type of organized sports just as much as he did, but all that went away after seeing Justin for the first time in his uniform. It sparked something in her, she didn't know what but her attention was drawn to Justin and him alone.

With a few gestures to the crowd, Justin jogged over to the bench where Lucas and the rest of the team were already.

"Okay guys, let's show Bear Creek what teamwork is all about." Lucas told the boys. "Raven on three." He put out his hand.

One by one the boys brought their hands into the huddle.

"_One, two, three… Ravens!!"_ They yelled in unison.

Taking the court, Justin looked over to the bleachers one last time. Finding Lily a few rows back, he gave her a wave.

"Wait, was _he_ waving at _me?_" Lily asked Kyle hurriedly, realizing he was looking in her direction.

"What do you think?" Kyle replied uninterested.

Lily shyly smiled and waved back at him.

Justin winked at her, continuing to make his way to center court for the opening tip.

"Oh my god, did you see that!" Lily yelped, giving Kyle a shove.

"Yay." Kyle sarcastically remarked.

"_Are you ready for some Raven Basketballl…"_ The announcer boomed on the loudspeakers.

The fans screamed in approval.

The two centers crouched in front of one another in anticipation for the referee to toss the basketball in the air. Giving a blow of his whistle, the ref tossed the basketball and it deflected right into Justin's arms.

Not wasting any time, J-Mac weaved his way through the Bear Creek defenders and laid the ball up easily into the basket.

The crowd immediately jumped out of their chairs, cheering on their team.

——————————

It was near the end of the 2nd quarter now and the Ravens were holding a slim two point margin.

"2-3 zone, 2-3 zone!" Lucas shouted running up the sidelines.

The Bear Creek point guard brought the ball up, holding up two fingers signaling for a play. He waited for the clock to reach about 8 seconds before making his move. Giving a quick crossover, he got passed the first Tree Hill guard but Justin instinctively stripped him of the ball.

Looking up and seeing there was just a little over a second left on the game clock, J-Mac heaved the ball from almost half court and it bounced hard off the backboard, barely missing the hoop. The buzzer sounded and the two teams made their way to the locker room.

"_Well that's the half."_ The announcer said over the P.A. system. _"The Ravens lead the Warriors 35-33."_

. . .

"I'm gonna get something to drink, want anything?" Kyle turned to his right, but soon realized that no one was there. He looked around the gym and noticed that Lily had joined Stacey over by the locker room doors, both trying to get a peek inside.

Not wanting to bother them, Kyle made his way down the stands to the cafeteria.

. . .

"Good half guys, but we gotta pick up the intensity for the second half." Lucas told the boys who were scattered along the benches in the locker room. "We're 12 for 23 from the field but only 9 for 15 from the line. We'll have to do a whole lot better than that if we wanna win." He continued while looking over the box scores on his clipboard.

"Just keep playing team ball and keep the turnovers to a minimum. Now let's get this W." Lucas affirmed. "Ravens on three."

——————————

After about 20 minutes or so, the buzzer in the gym sounded signaling the start of the 3rd quarter. Stacey and Lily who were still peering into the Ravens locker room were pushed away when the doors suddenly opened up as Lucas and the Ravens came back onto the court.

Taking the hint, Lily and Stacey scurried away giggling at one another.

"That was a close one." Stacey said.

"Yeah." Lily replied still laughing a little.

"Maybe after the game we'll be able to get a closer look." Stacey smirked.

"Shut up." Lily slapped Stacey's arm.

Saying bye to Stacey, Lily walked back over to the bleachers— which also meant having to pass Ashley and the cheerleading squad. Trying her best to not make eye contact, Lily leisurely strolled past Ashley as if she wasn't even there. Ashley crossed her arms in disgust, simply giving Lily a cold stare.

Not paying her any mind, Lily smiled to herself as she sat back down in the stands.

"Back…" Lily started to say before she saw that the seat next to her was empty. She looked around the crowd wondering where Kyle could've possibly gone off too.

. . .

Kyle pulled a dollar out from his front pocket and jammed it into the vending machine. Grabbing the can of soda, he was about to pop open the lid when he heard a voice in the background.

"_You couldn't stand it in their either huh?"_

Kyle turned around and saw a girl sitting at one of the nearby tables. He hadn't noticed her when he first walked in because she was conveniently tucked in one of the corners of the room.

"Yeah." Kyle replied walking up to her. The two being the only ones in the cafeteria, he knew she was the one to answer to.

"So what's your story? Why aren't you in there _cheering _the team on?" The girl sarcastically asked.

"Why aren't you?" Kyle questioned.

"I'm the one who's asking the questions." She retorted.

"I just wasn't feeling it." He told her.

"That's a pretty lame excuse." The girl commented.

"So then why are you here?" Kyle asked again.

"_You kidding me?_ I'm all for school spirit." She proclaimed, all in while making a gag motion with her finger.

Kyle smirked, almost letting out a laugh.

"Sorry, even I couldn't say that with a straight face."

"Oh believe me, I feel the same way. It's good to know there's still one normal person out there." Kyle admitted. "I'm Kyle by the way." He introduced himself.

"Dayleen." The girl replied looking up at him.

Dayleen is also a fellow freshman at Tree Hill High. Some would consider Dayleen a loner for the most part, but she doesn't pay any mind to what others say about her. She has a very good sense of self and doesn't try to please anyone other than herself. For the very few who actually do know her, knows she is simply just misunderstood.

"So you never answered my question?" Dayleen announced. "Why are you here?"

"A friend dragged me along." Kyle said. "You?"

"I ask the questions, remember?" Dayleen reminded him, letting off a bit of a smile for the first time in their conversation.

Kyle nodded, grinning a little to himself as well. "Well do you mind if I _cheer_ along with you then?"

"Okay." Dayleen started to say. "But only if you give me that Coke."

"Deal." Kyle agreed handing her the can of soda.

——————————

Back in the gym it was now late in the 4th quarter, the Ravens were holding a single point lead. There was a little over 40 seconds left in the game and the Warriors had one last chance to win the game.

The Bear Creek guard pushed the ball up the court, making sure to keep an eye on the clock. With about 15 seconds left on the game clock, he slashed to the basket and jumped in the air. He was soon met however with the Tree Hill center.

The Bear Creek guard ducked under the center's arm, avoiding the contact and slipped the ball into the hoop.

"_And the basket is… good. Warrior's take the lead with 3.2 seconds left." _The announcer informed the crowd.

"Time out! Time out!" Lucas yelled in the referee's direction.

"_The Ravens call for time. Let's see what new head coach Lucas Scott draws up here."_ The announcer continued.

"They have any fouls to give?" Lucas turned to Nathan.

"No." Nathan answered anxiously.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do." Lucas said pulling out his clipboard. "Justin, you're going to come off the double screen and cut to the basket. If the shot isn't there Tommy should be open in the corner." Lucas drew up the play.

The team nodded in approval, all but Justin who apparently seemed to have better things to do.

"Justin!" Lucas shouted, trying to get his attention. "Understood?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." He replied.

"Okay, hands in. Let's win this thing." Lucas asserted. "Ravens on three."

With that the two teams took the court. The Ravens lined up behind one another in anticipation for the inbounds pass. The referee handed the Tree Hill forward the ball and gave a quick blow to his whistle.

Justin quickly ran through the two screens and was free up at the top of the key. Receiving the ball, he took a few dribbles and without hesitation made his move.

"_J-Mac drives into the lane…"_

Dashing into the paint, he was immediately met by a defender which made him alter his shot. Instead of passing it off to Tommy who was wide open and all alone in the corner, fading away to his side, Justin put up a circus shot just as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

"_The shot is up…"_

Seeming like an eternity, Justin and everyone else in the entire gymnasium stood there in silence waiting for the ball to land. Bouncing off the front of the rim, the ball hopped one last time straight into the basket, just as the final buzzer went off.

"… _and it's good! Ravens win! Ravens win!!"_

The crowd erupted into a roar as the team mobbed Justin. Lifting him up off the ground, the Ravens carried Justin off the court with the fans chanting, _"J-Mac J-Mac J-Mac."_

Lucas looked on aggravated with his hands on his hips. He slammed his clipboard to the floor in frustration and stormed off the floor.

——————————

Lily was propped up against the wall leading to the Ravens locker room, waiting for Justin to make his way out.

A few minutes later when he did, he was pleasantly surprised to see Lily standing there.

"Hey." He greeted her.

"I just wanted to congratulate you on the win." She told him, trying to hide her nervousness.

"Oh it was nothing." Justin replied. "So what are you doing now?" He added.

"Me? Nothing. How 'bout you?" Lily asked.

"Nothing, wanna grab…" Justin began to inquire but was interrupted when Peyton walked up to the two.

"Lily sweetie, sorry but Lucas is waiting in the car." Peyton said with a look of concern on her face.

"Okay, in a minute." She told Peyton.

Peyton gave her a nod and waited for her by the entrance.

"Talk to you tomorrow?" Lily winced, turning back to Justin.

"Yeah, catch you later." Justin said as he watched her walked out of the gym.

——————————

_Dear Diary,_ Lily began to scribble in her tiny notebook when suddenly the lights in her room and the lights in the entire house for that matter went out.

"Go to sleep." Lucas shouted.

Lily sat there in the dark befuddled, staring at her walls. "'Night to you too…" She said under her breath.

Rummaging through her drawers the best she could in the pitch black she pulled out a flashlight, shining it onto her diary that was still sitting on the desk.

"_Well the King has spoken…"_ She simply wrote before jumping into her bed.


	10. Chapter 9

**New Chapter.**

**In case I don't do another update by next week, I hope you all enjoy the season premiere! :)  
**

* * *

**Nine**

"C'mon, gimme your pudding. You never eat it anyhow." James poked at Lily's lunch tray.

"I do too." Lily slapped his hand away.

"Here, take mine." Kyle said walking up and sitting down between the two.

"Hey, where'd you run off to last night?" Lily asked him curiously.

"Oh, I just went to grab a drink." Kyle told her.

"For the entire second half?" She continued a little confused.

"Well it was a pretty long line." He lied smiling nervously.

"You missed a good game man." James chimed in.

"You barely even played." Stacey pointed out, taking a seat at the table.

"1 for 1 from the field and 2 assists, thank you very much." James reminded her.

"Anyways…" Stacey replied, totally blowing him off. "So spill missy, what happen with you and Justin after the game?" She turned to Lily wanting all the details.

"It was going fine 'til Peyton interrupted us." She replied. "Well more like Lucas."

"What's he upset about this time?" Stacey asked, almost not wanting to know.

"I have no idea. He's been in such a bad mood ever since last night." Lily explained.

"But the team won. What could he possibly be angry about?" Kyle answered.

"I _thought_ you said you went out to get drinks?" Lily turned to him.

"Oh uh, I got back in time to catch the last few seconds." Kyle tried to cover up his story.

Lily glared at him, knowing something was obviously up— just not what exactly. She always could tell when Kyle was lying, he was never very good at it.

"Great, that should make today's practice an enjoyable one." James mocked looking a bit scared now as he stood up from the table.

——————————

Justin leisurely strolled around the corner of the hall towards the gym, soon seeing his teammates who were all gathered at the door.

Almost bumping into one of them, he stopped in his tracks. "What are you guys doing?" He said pulling out one of his ear buds to his iPod.

Anthony pointed to the door where a sign was apparently taped onto it.

"_Team Meeting in my office. –Coach Scott"_ Justin read it to himself.

Not thinking anything of the sign, Justin wiggled his way through the crowd to the door.

"It's locked." Tommy told him.

"Yeah, I figured it was." Justin snapped back, still pulling at the handles trying to get in. Pounding on the door in frustration, "Fine, let's go to this stupid thing." He declared unwillingly.

The team followed behind him as he reluctantly began to make his way to Coach Scott's office.

. . .

Justin turned on the knob and this time unfortunately the door did open.

"Glad you guys could make it." Lucas greeted his team. "Come in, come in. Don't be shy, there's enough room for all of you." He added.

The team stood there jammed in the doorway for a minute, unsure what to expect before finally cramming themselves into the Coach's office. It was a tight and uncomfortable fit, but each of the twelve boys eventually did find a spot to sit down.

"So you might be wondering why I called you all down here." Lucas said looking on at the boys. "I wanted to go over some tape from yesterday's game." He announced as he bent down to press the play button on the VCR.

The image of last night's game popped onto the TV screen. "Why don't we just jump to the 4th quarter." Lucas jammed on the fast-forward button on the remote.

Lucas hit the play button once again when the tape got to the last play of the game. "Let's see what we have here." He continued with his almost obvious sarcasm.

"Double screen, yes. Good inbounds pass." He nodded as the play began to unfold. "Cut to the paint, good. Shot is up…"

The team watched as the ball bounced ever so slightly into the basket. Letting out a few shouts and hollers, Justin's teammates started to shove him in approval.

"Too bad that wasn't the play we drew up." Lucas interrupted with a stern look on his face.

The boys settled down, realizing the coach wasn't the slightest bit amused.

"Tommy wasn't open so I put up the shot." Justin defended himself.

"You sure 'bout that? I remember it differently." Lucas replied rewinding the tape back.

"Coach, its fine." Tommy tried his best to make light of the situation.

"Okay so he was open. What's the big deal, we won the game." Justin protested.

"That's not the point." Lucas told him. "You not only deliberately disobeyed me, but you didn't show any respect or regard for your teammates either."

There was a long period of silence in the room. No one knowing exactly what to do or say at the current time.

Breaking the silence, Lucas decided to get what he wanted to say off his chest. "And for that reason, I'm sitting you down for the next game."

Taking a second for it to sink in, Justin stood up. "_What!!_ You can't do that!" He screamed.

"Until you learn the meaning of _teamwork_ I'm going to do just that." Lucas responded.

"Whatever." Justin said coldly as he stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

There was another long, agonizing moment of quiet as everyone began to realize what had just happened.

"That's it for today." Lucas finally spoke. "Go on, get outta here." He told the boys almost shouting.

——————————

"You guys heard?" James ran up to Stacey and Lily who were standing by their lockers.

"No, what?" Stacey asked.

"Lucas is benching Justin." He told them.

"What?" Lily replied a little taken back. This was just the predicament she didn't want to be put into— having to pick sides.

. . .

Like a wildfire, the rumors about Justin spread rapid across the school until soon when virtually everyone had heard the bad news.

Not knowing the truth behind the entire story, everyone just assumed it was some power trip the coach was making as a message of some sorts to his team. Little did they know however, Coach Lucas Scott wasn't going to back down from his decision and in what he believed in— that absolutely no one is bigger than the team.

——————————

Lily hesitantly opened the front door, slowly walking in.

"Hey kiddo." Lucas greeted her

"Hey." Lily answered as she sped up the stairs with her head down.

"What's up with her now?" Lucas asked Peyton who was in the kitchen preparing dinner.

"She's fifteen. Something's always up." Peyton told him.

Flopping down onto her bed, Lily took a deep sigh of relief. She didn't know how much longer she could avoid the inevitable, but it couldn't hurt prolonging it for as long as she possibly could.

With the new events unfolding, she just hoped and prayed her two worlds wouldn't clash anytime soon— which currently seemed almost certain at this point.


	11. Chapter 10

**So here's the next installment.**

**The plot lines thicken up a bit. Don't be shy to tell me whether or not you like where I'm taking things. :)  
**

* * *

**Ten**

_Dear Diary,_

_So my worst possible nightmare is actually becoming a harsh reality. I knew it was too good to be true... And just when I thought I had everything figured out, now I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place— well in this case my brother and a boy I was sorta, kinda seeing… Well whatever we were doing I'm sure it's all over by now. I don't know, maybe I'm looking way too much into this though. Who knows, maybe this all will blow over soon... Who am I kidding? Even if we were able to work it out, there's no way Lucas would approve of us now... as if I stood a chance either way. I guess I should just head over to school now. God if there was a day for a bomb threat or a snow day I wish it were today. Hopefully I will be able to avoid them both at least for the time being. I mean how hard could it be right?_

_-Lily_

——————————

Lily crept out of her room and down the stairs. Stepping down ever so gently on each step until she finally made it to the bottom of the staircase. Sticking her head into the doorway, she peered into the kitchen. The refrigerator door was open but she couldn't tell who was behind it.

"Hi sweetie." Peyton popped up from above the door. "Want me to make you something to eat?"

"No, it's fine. I'm actually running a little late." Lily told her, taking a sigh of relief. "Where's Lucas?" She asked trying to act nonchalant about it.

"Oh, he left not too long ago. He wanted to get to the school early." Peyton told her. "Why?"

"Nothing." Lily replied. "I should get going."

"Okay. Have a good day." Peyton shrugged as Lily rushed out the backdoor.

——————————

The first bell rang through the halls indicating the start of another day at Tree Hill High. There was still a slight buzz amongst the students over the whole Justin and the Ravens fiasco. Most were still in an uproar over Lucas benching the team's lone star and only glimmer of even making it to the playoffs.

Lily slowly made her way over to her locker where Stacey was already waiting for her apparently.

"Hey you." Stacey greeted her.

"Hey." Lily replied opening her locker.

"So what's up? You talk to Lucas?" Stacey finally asked, not able to hold it in any longer.

"No." Lily simply responded.

"But don't you wanna know? Everyone else is pretty much dying for an explanation." Stacey looked at her a bit confused.

"To be honest that's the last thing on my mind. I rather just ignore it completely for the time being." Lily explained.

"Got 'cha." Stacey nodded. "Wait, does that mean Justin too?"

"Especially him." Lily shot back. "The last thing I need now is for him to hate me too." She went on.

"You know he won't." Stacey told her.

"How do you know that?"

"Lils, he _likes_ you. He'll understand." Stacey assured her.

"Yeah, you're right?" Lily half-smiled at her notion. "But I still rather not see him at least for today. So give me a heads up if you see him."

"Deal." Stacey agreed. "Wanna go to the mall after school?"

"Can't, ballet practice." Lily said.

"Okay see you at lunch then?" Stacey continued.

"Yup." Lily replied as she slammed her locker door shut. Doing so, a body emerged from behind it.

Lily jumped and gasped a slight bit. "Oh my god, you scared me half to death." She said slapping the person's arm.

"What did I do?" Kyle asked as he watched Lily walk away.

"She thought you were… long story." Stacey told him.

——————————

It was now lunch hour and Lily, Stacey, Kyle, and James were all sitting at their normal table in the courtyard— the girls on one side and the boys on the other.

"Don't even try it." Lily slapped James' hand who was picking at her lunch tray.

"Ohh, this would go perfect with my new shoes." Stacey pointed out flipping through one of her designer magazines.

Kyle meanwhile was in his own world as usual. This time he was jotting down some ideas on a piece of sheet music.

After warring off James from her lunch, Lily noticed Kyle deep in concentration hunched over the table scribbling away on the piece of paper.

"Hey Kyle. What 'cha doing over there?" She asked curiously.

Kyle popped up a little startled. "Oh, it's nothing." He replied as he tried to cover up the paper with his arms.

"Doesn't seem like nothing." James mentioned before swiftly snatching the sheet of paper from his grasp.

"Oh… it really is nothing." He said disappointed as he was just now taking a look at the scribble of musical notes on it.

"It's just something Kevin has me working on." Kyle told them.

"Really? Let me see." Lily motioned to James. "You composed this?" She asked him while scanning the page. She had known Kyle pretty much her entire life and knew of his immense musical talent, but she was still impressed to say the least. With Peyton being the music aficionado that she is, Lily was taught how to read music at a very young age.

"Yeah but it's nowhere close to being done." Kyle admitted.

"Well when you finish it I would love to hear it." Lily told him.

"Alright." Kyle nodded hesitantly.

"Uh oh." Stacey chimed into the conversation.

"What?" Lily turned to her.

"Look straight ahead." She said as she saw none other than Justin walking into the courtyard, directly towards their table it seemed.

"Crap. What do I do?" Lily said anxiously.

"Go under the table." Was the first thing that came to Stacey's mind as she was practically pushing Lily under it in the process.

Now safely hidden underneath the table, Lily attempted to peer into one of the cracks where the light was shining through. She could see him inching ever so closer to their table. Fearing that she may be seen, she sunk her head lower.

Finally making his way to their table, Justin greeted the three. "Jimmy Jam. Kyle is it?"

"Yeah." Kyle answered.

"And…" Justin paused pointing to Stacey, not knowing her name.

"Stacey!" She exclaimed in awe.

"You guys haven't seen Lily by any chance?" He asked to no one in particular.

"_You're pretty."_ Stacey replied all dreamy-eyed.

Hearing the dialog from underneath the table, Lily gave Stacey a kick.

"_Oww… _Oh, umm nope. Haven't seen her since 1st period." Stacey corrected herself.

"Well if you see her can you tell her I'm looking for her." He told her.

"_Anything for you."_ Stacey slowly nodded in approval, still in her trance.

Lily kicked her in the shin once again.

"Are you ok?" Justin asked, seeing her grab her leg.

"Fine." Stacey winched in pain.

"Okay." Justin smiled uncomfortably. "Well talk to you guys later then." He said before he left.

"Coast is clear." James informed Lily waiting for Justin to get out of sight.

"Why'd you have to hit me so hard?" Stacey complained as Lily emerged from under the table.

"Sorry." Lily told her. "Did you hear that? He wants to _talk _to me." She added sounding concerned.

"Yeah." Stacey replied. "Now that you mention it, he did sound a bit uneasy."

"I think you both are just blowing this whole thing way outta proportion." James added.

"Jamie, you know Luke almost as good as I do and you _know_ once he has his mind set on something— you're not changing it." Lily protested. "And his mind _is_ set on Justin… as the entire school knows by now."

"Yeah, but…" James started to respond but began realized what she was saying did make some sense.

"I still think you should talk to him though." Stacey pointed out. "You can't hide from him forever."

"Yeah but I can try." Lily declared.

"You can be so stubborn at times." Stacey shook her head. "Well c'mon." She grabbed Lily.

"Where are we going?" Lily asked confused.

"Since you pretty much just crippled me, you're treating me for dessert." Stacey explained.

…

Now with the girls gone, James and Kyle were by themselves. James scooted closer over to Kyle who was still immersed in his work.

"So…" James looked at Kyle inquisitively.

"So…" Kyle repeated him, not sure what to make of his expression.

"Well…" James continued.

"What!? You're freaking me out man." Kyle blurted out.

"Looks like the door is wide open for you." James remarked rather vaguely.

Kyle stared at him still not understanding where he was getting at. "Umm, ok. Whatever that means."

"Were you not here just a couple minutes ago?" James asked him in frustration. "This is your chance to tell Lily how you feel." He got to the point.

"Not this again." Kyle sighed. "We're _just_ friends." He told him and everyone else for that matter for the one millionth time.

"Why is it that both you and Lily are so oblivious to this? I don't know if it's denial or what, but you better get over whatever fear you have before it's too late." James tried to get through to him.

Kyle flinched a little at the comment but ultimately just went back to scribbling some notes on his sheet music completely ignoring him.

——————————

"Okay ladies, our first show is in a couple weeks." Mrs. Hurwitz announced. "But before I give out official parts, why don't we first go over one of the routines." She told the girls.

"First position." She continued, clapping her hands.

With that, the girls stood up one by one and lined up in a row along the railing, waiting for Mrs. Hurwitz's next instruction.

. . .

"Good job ladies. See you next week." Mrs. Hurwitz said enthusiastically ending the class for today.

As the girls started to head for the door, Ashley stopped just before passing Lily. "I hope you aren't planning on auditioning for the lead." She told Lily in her typical smug fashion.

"As a matter of fact, I am." Lily replied, correcting her.

"Just so you know I was the lead last year so I wouldn't get my hopes up." Ashley smirked.

"We'll have to wait and see then won't we?" Lily simply answered back as she made her way out of the studio.

——————————

After rehearsal, Lily made a quick trip back over to her locker to get a couple books she needed for homework. The hallway was quite empty, understandably so, being that it was now well after school hours.

Pulling out the appropriate books, she proceeded to slam the door shut behind her— not noticing however that one of the strings to her bag got jammed with it as well.

Unknowingly she began to head for the exit, but was soon stopped shortly after when her bag suddenly pulled her back. Causing her to stumble, she fell to the ground and dropped the books she was carrying in her hands.

"Shoot." Lily said under her breath, a slight bit annoyed at her clumsiness yet once again.

She bent down to pick up the books and some of the stuff that spilled out of her bag that were now scattered all along the floor. As she was doing so, the sound of someone's footsteps coming towards her caught her attention.

Before she could decipher whose footsteps they were, the next thing she knew a hand appeared in front of her and picked up the remaining book that was left on the floor.

Not even having to look up, she instantly recognized the hand that was currently grasping her geometry book.

"Well this is familiar." The voice said jokingly.

Lily looked up to only confirm whom she thought it was.

"We gotta stop meeting like this." Justin continued.

"Yeah." Lily replied nervously, still not really knowing what to expect.

Justin put out his hand and helped her up.

"Thanks." Lily awkwardly smiled.

"Here you go." He gave her back the textbook. "So what's going on with you? Just came from dance practice?" He pointed to the ballet slippers tucked in her arm.

"Yeah." Lily nodded shyly. "You?"

"Well I think we both know the story there." Justin admitted.

"_Stupid!"_ Lily shouted inside her head. "Yeah, about that…" She started to say.

"Oh, don't worry 'bout it." Justin interrupted her.

"So… you're not mad?" Lily looked on a bit surprised.

"At you? No." Justin shook his head. "Why, should I be?"

"Well I just thought with Lucas being my brother and all, I thought… I don't know. I just felt like I needed to get that off my chest." Lily stammered.

"I don't hold it against you." He joked. "But thanks."

"Well, okay then." Lily took a deep sigh of relief, feeling the enormous weight being lifted off her shoulder.

"So do you need a ride or something?" Justin asked her.

"Yeah, sure." Lily agreed. "Just to be safe though, drop me off a block from my house." She suggested.

"Good idea." Justin laughed as he leaded Lily out of the school to the parking lot.


	12. Chapter 11

**So here's the new ch... finally. Sorry to have kept you guys waiting, but good things come to those who wait I guess lol.**

**A pretty lengthy chapter. I'm pretty sure you guys will enjoy this one.**

* * *

**Eleven**

"Lily hurry, the bus is coming any minute." Peyton shouted from downstairs.

Lily dashed down the stairs, hopping down them with an apparent skip in her step.

"Someone's in a good mood today." Peyton observed a little apprehensively. She was a teenager herself way back when, she knew there had to be a catch.

"Really? I feel the same as I always do." Lily gleamed.

Peyton didn't press the issue because she knew that if she had Lily would end up missing her bus. "Okay, have a good day at school." She looked on, still skeptical.

. . .

As Lily walked out of the front door, she noticed the bus pulling up to the stop at the corner. She ran across the street yelling, trying to get the driver's attention and just made it on time.

She got on board the bus a little short-winded and scanned for an empty seat. Not recognizing anyone she knew, she settled for the first available one she could find.

Looking to her right, Lily glanced over to the girl who was sitting next to her. The girl had her legs tucked up into her and was in deep concentration reading a book, all in while with music blearing from her headphones as well, surprisingly enough.

From the small opening that was present where the girl's arms and legs met, Lily was able to catch a glimpse of the cover of the book. From the two words she could make out, it was enough for her to realize it was one by William Faulkner.

Being raised by Lucas, who's love for reading is close to unprecedented and she being an avid reader herself, Lily had a great appreciation for literature— especially William Faulkner who was one of her and Lucas' preferred, if not favorite authors.

Noticing that she was currently being stared at, the girl pulled out one of her ear buds and turned to face Lily. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, nothing." Lily replied a bit embarrassed. "I just saw you were reading some Faulkner. He's one of my favorites too." She pointed out.

"Really?" The girl responded, slightly shocked that someone actually knew who he was this time.

"Oh yeah, my brother use to read me his stuff all the time when I was younger and now I just can't get enough of his work." Lily told her.

"That's good to hear. I was beginning to think that no one in this town knew _anything_ about good literature." She remarked quite impressed.

"Yeah, around here its pretty much Ravens all day everyday." Lily joked. "Especially today being a game day, it's going to be a frenzy around here for sure."

"Yeah." The girl let out a laugh. "I found that to be the case pretty much the first moment I stepped foot into this place.

"Oh, I'm Lily by the way." Lily introduced herself, almost forgetting to do so.

"Dayleen." The girl answered.

"So you're not from around here?" Lily asked, getting back to the conversation.

"No, I just moved down here a few months ago." Dayleen replied.

"Oh, so this is your first year at Tree Hill High also?" Lily went on.

"Yup." Dayleen affirmed. "I think we have a class together actually, English."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I knew you looked familiar." Lily blushed a bit at her clear oversight. "So how do you like it over at T.H.H.S.?"

"It's going fine I guess." Dayleen said, still undecided. "This being my fourth school in the last three years it's a little hard getting into the flow of it all." She confessed.

"Your family travels a lot? Lily asked, not sure if she was overstepping her boundaries.

"No. Actually I'm adopted." Dayleen told her apprehensively. "I've been hopping from one foster home to another, until just recently when they finally found me a home down here."

"Sorry." Lily said looking on, feeling bad now that she had pressed the issue.

"It's okay. I'm not one of those kids who are ashamed of their past or holds any regrets because of it." Dayleen insisted. "The past is the past, you know?"

Lily nodded. She had a couple horror and sob stories of her own to say the least, but she never could imagine herself being so open and secure with them as Dayleen was. It was something she admired and envied in people like her, wishing she had the same strength as well.

With that, the bus finally made its way to the front entrance of the high school. The driver parked the bus along the street and proceeded to open the doors.

As the kids jammed into one another and began filing out of the bus, Lily and Dayleen got up as well.

"See you around." Dayleen looked back in Lily's direction before stepping off the bus.

"Yeah, you too." Lily answered before ultimately doing the same as she ran into the school not wanting to be late for her first class.

——————————

It was now the middle of the school day, which meant the mark for the beginning of the lunch period for most of the students.

Now that the first few grueling and bored to death hours of class were finally over with, Lily eagerly made her way out of the classroom and walked down the hallway.

After stuffing a couple of books and some of her other belongings into her locker, she slammed the door shut and began making her way to the cafeteria to meet up with the rest of the gang.

Finally getting there, she groaned to herself seeing the long line of kids that had formed already. Standing in line, she waited patiently as it slowly started to move along. As she grabbed for a tray from the counter, a voice from behind her suddenly greeted her.

"So what are the specials today?" Justin asked.

"Hey." Lily greeted him smiling back. "I'm not sure, some sloppy joe looking thing and fish sticks." She added, tiptoeing to look over the counter.

"Sounds good." Justin replied sarcastically.

"This is 5-star gourmet compared to my brother's and Peyton's cooking." Lily mocked, reaching for a fork and knife.

Justin let out a chuckle. "So what are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing. Same old, same old. Just getting ready for another game night, yay…" Lily frowned. "How 'bout you?"

"Me? Honestly I'm just trying to find something, anything to fill all this free time I have now." Justin said somewhat bitterly. "So you are going to the game today?" He finally got to his point.

"I don't really think I have a choice in the matter." Lily joked half-heartedly.

Justin paused for a second before responding. "Yeah, I'm still not sure whether I should go or not."

"Umm sloppy joe please." Lily turned her attention to butch hair-netted lunch lady who was calling out to her.

"_It's chili."_ The lady replied monotone, swinging the ladle she was holding in the air.

"Ok, some of that then." Lily replied a bit frightened.

"I'll have the same." Justin quickly repeated.

"So what are you gonna do?" Lily looked back at him with a slight bit of concern.

"I guess I'm gonna have to just play by his rules." Justin admitted grudgingly. It wasn't in his nature to give into anyone, let alone admit when he was wrong.

"Do you want me to talk to him, he'll listen to me." Lily suggested as she handed the cashier a dollar bill.

"No that's alright, that's the last thing I wanna do… drag you into this mess." He told her.

"I'm sure he'll come around. He's just stubborn that's all. Believe me… _I know_." She joked.

"I just don't get his whole thing at all." Justin continued. "All I was trying to do was win the game, and we did. So what's the big deal."

Lily looked on. She's never seen this vulnerable side of him before, she always thought of him as this tough as steel jock. He was really upset and hurt over this. "Just come to the game. I'm sure this thing has blown over by now." She tried her best to assure him.

"I don't know if I can handle being in there without playing." He replied.

"Will you think about it at least? I'll be there if you change your mind." She told him.

"Okay." Justin agreed, still sounding a bit resentful.

——————————

Lily wiggled her way through the number of fans, finally reaching her normal spot on the bleachers— a few rows back behind the Raven bench.

"Hey." Kyle said, noticing Lily taking a seat next to him. "What happened to you at lunch today?"

"Hey." Lily replied obviously distracted, scanning over the crowd for any signs of him. "You haven't see Justin by any chance have you?" She turned to Kyle's direction at last.

"No." Kyle told her. "Isn't he suspended anyhow?" He pointed out.

"That doesn't mean he can't come to the game." Lily defended him.

Kyle didn't care to respond because out of the corner of his eye he could see no other than Justin himself reluctantly walking into the gym. With a hoodie draped over his head and sunglasses over his eyes, it kept him undetectable long enough to find Lily who was waving at him.

"Hey guys." Justin whispered not wanting to catch the attention of the others.

"I'm so glad you decided to show." Lily stood up enthusiastically.

"What you said earlier really got to home with me, so thanks for that." He thanked her.

"Good to see you could make it." Kyle added, trying to be friendly.

——————————

One the Tree Hill players heaved the ball from three quarters court in one last-ditch effort to make a basket but it missed the backboard in all.

The crowd let out a groan as the P.A. Announcer boomed over the sound system, "And that's the half. Mount Vernon leads the Ravens by 16." Some of the fans dispersed while others continued to sit there, still in disbelief over the outcome of the first half.

"Rough half." Lily broke the silence between the three.

"Yeah, that was brutal." Kyle chimed in, almost as if he was enjoying this way too much.

"They're not talking on D at all." Justin replied. "And the ball handling is terrible."

"I'm sure they'll make some adjustments after the half." Lily tried to stay positive.

"I'm gonna grab a drink. You guys want anything?" Kyle announced.

"No. I'm fine." Lily replied. "Don't ditch me this time." She told him with a stern expression on her face.

"Haha." Kyle laughed getting up.

"I'll take a coke actually." Justin informed Kyle just before he left.

"Sure thing." Kyle smiled, trying his best to remain pleasant.

——————————

Kyle waited on the line to the concession stand. It wasn't until staring at the person in front of him long enough when he finally realized it was someone he knew. Unsure whether he should tap the person on the shoulder, he decided to discreetly just so happen to bump into them— by accident of course.

"Watch where you're…" The girl turned around ready to snap at the person behind her until she recognized who it was.

"Oh, hey." Kyle continued to act coy.

"Hey." Dayleen let off a smile.

"Sorry 'bout that." Kyle apologized.

"No you're not." Dayleen quizzically remarked, catching onto him. "So what do you know, Mr. Cheerleader decided to make yet another appearance." She smirked.

"Funny." Kyle said. "That still doesn't explain why you're here." He shot back.

"I don't need a reason." Dayleen declared. "But if you must know… I needed some fresh air."

"So the first place that came to your mind was this place? That makes a lot of sense." Kyle answered mockingly.

"Well I figured I'm miserable here practically everyday of the week, why not make it the nights as well." She explained, playing along.

"Good one." Kyle laughed.

"Well misery loves company, so why not just stay back here with me."

"Can't, gotta get back in there." Kyle told her, struggling to juggle the cans of soda in his hands.

"What could possibly be _so_ exciting that you have to get back in there?" She questioned.

Kyle stood there for a moment contemplating over the last comment. "You know what… you're right." He replied, almost as if a light bulb suddenly went off in his head.

"Umm, I would've drank that…" Dayleen looked on puzzled as he proceeded to throw out one of the spare soda cans he was currently holding.

"Sorry, was in the heat of the moment." Kyle replied a little embarrassed.

——————————

The buzzer went off again signaling the start of the second half. The two teams marched out of the locker room to their respective benches.

Right off the bat the Ravens took the initial inbounds pass and made a turnover, resulting into two points for the other team.

"No, No! Timeout. Timeout!!" Lucas threw his hands up screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Okay huddle up." Lucas ordered his players, still a little agitated over his team's play. "I don't know about you guys but I'm embarrassed to even be showing my face around here after that first half. Now do you guys wanna get back in this game or not?" He continued with a stern look on his face.

"Talk more on D and you gotta lay off on the turnovers. Let's get the deficit down to single digits first and we'll go on from there. Okay men?" Lucas looked into his players eyes. "This is the time to show me what you've got. Ravens on three."

"_One, two, three… Ravens!" _The team shouted in unison.

. . .

It was now late in the 4th quarter and Mount Vernon were still holding onto a 4 point lead with just a little under two minutes left in the game. The Ravens inbounded the ball and began setting up their play.

"Firecracker 2. Firecracker 2." Tommy yelled holding up two fingers.

Watching the play unfold, he proceeded to pass the ball to Anthony who was fighting for position in the paint.

Backing down into the Mount Vernon player, Anthony gave him a few head fakes before making his move. He quickly spun to his right and laid up the ball. As a result, the opposing player jumped into the air and slapped him on his arm in a desperate attempt to block the shot.

Not succeeding however, Anthony was able to power through his arm being held and laid the ball into the basket.

"_The basket is good and there's a foul… Peel will go to the line for a 3-point play!" _The announcer relayed the turn of events.

Stepping up to the foul line, Anthony gave the ball a few bounces and squared up for the shot. He confidently let the ball out of his hand and it swished straight through the hoop.

Seeing that one of his players were wide open on the other end of the court, the Mount Vernon guard sprinted underneath the basket waiting for the referee to hand him the ball. Catching the Ravens off guard, he flung the ball across the court where one of their forwards had broken away from the pack.

The ball landed right into the forward's hands as he dashed to the basket.

Luckily one of the Ravens were able to catch up with him, wrapping him up and preventing him from making the shot.

The referee blew his whistle, making a gesture that it was a foul.

"_Mount Vernon will have two free throws to go up by 3." _The announcer explained.

The player lined up the shot and didn't waste any time sinking the first free throw.

Taking a bit more time for the second shot, he gave a couple spins to the ball before throwing it up.

"_The shot it up… and it barley rims out. The Ravens engulf the rebound and call a timeout." _The P.A. informed the crowd._ "Mount Vernon holds a 2 point lead with 29 seconds left on the game clock."_

Lucas called the team into the huddle and began drawing up a play.

"This game is crazy isn't it?" Lily turned to Justin's direction.

"Yeah." He replied with an apparent look of concern on his face.

"What are you thinking?" Lily asked curiously, realizing something was off with him.

"He can't be serious." Justin continued. Sitting only a couple rows back from behind the Ravens bench, he was able to hear into the huddle without much effort.

With that, Justin suddenly got up from his seat and starting walking down over to the bench.

"What, what are you doing?" Lily stammered looking on slightly worried, not sure what he was going to do.

. . .

"When you get off the pick, it should leave you an open lane straight to the hoop. Got it?" Lucas showed his players on the clipboard he was holding.

"Coach, Coach." Justin shouted from the stands, trying to get Lucas' attention.

Lucas and the team turned around in response and were surprised to see Justin leaning over the bleachers.

"Mr. McGowen?" Lucas answered reluctantly, not knowing what to expect.

"They've been leaving Tom Tom open on the wing all game long." He told him assertively.

Lucas paused for a second before looking to Tommy who gave him a nod. He then gave Justin a stare, contemplating over his last comment.

"Alright, let's win the game then." Lucas agreed as he erased the lines on his clipboard.

Lucas let off a slight smirk as he watched Justin make his way back over to his seat and disappear into the crowd.

. . .

"_Okay, Ravens are down 2 with half a minute on the game clock."_ The announcer chimed in.

The referee handed Jamal the ball. He inbounded the ball to Hector who was situated at the top of the key.

After a series of screens and picks, Hector handed the ball over to Anthony who then drove straight into the paint.

"_Peel drives into the lane…"_

With three Mount Vernon defenders collapsing around him, he looked to the wing where Tommy was suppose to be and he was sitting right there all alone with no one in the vicinity.

Seeing the opening, Anthony threw a bullet to Tommy's direction.

Receiving the pass, Tommy quickly looked up over at the clock and saw there was 8 seconds left on the clock. Setting his feet, he launched himself in the air and with a flick of his wrists the ball rolled off his hands as it soared in the air towards the basket.

"_Peel kicks the ball out to Tom Tom on the wing who's all by himself… Ravens for the win…"_ The commentator said over the hush of the crowd.

The ball finally coming down from its flight, it bounced off the backboard and nestled right into the net.

"_It's good! It's good! Ravens win, Ravens WIN!!" _The announcer hollered as the crowd erupted in a roar.

The fans rushed onto court as the Raven players and coaches began their celebration.

Joining in, Justin gave a few of the players some hand pounds and slaps on the chest as the volume in the gym reached an almost deafening volume. Coming over to him, Lucas stuck out his hand and Justin gladly greeted it with a shake.

When things began to settle down a bit, Justin searched through the sea of people for Lily who he had lost in all the commotion. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turned and was relieved to see it was her.

"Hey." Lily shouted over the buzz of the crowd. "This is…"

Before she could finish her sentence, she found Justin wrapping his arms around her in an embrace. She wasn't sure if it was just the excitement in the air, but whatever it was she sure wasn't going to protest now.

Lying her head on his shoulder, she whispered to herself. "This is… _amazing_."

. . .

Hearing and feeling the roar coming from the gym, Kyle and Dayleen made their way back over to see what all the fuss was about.

Peering into the doorway Kyle stood there frozen, not believing the sight before him— feeling as if someone had just gave him a swift kick to the stomach.

"You like her don't you." Dayleen observed hovering over his shoulder.


End file.
